Fuses ans stuff was : Lightbulb police?

[Phill Harvey-Smith]

Tony Duell wrote:
>> Indeed, and a related problem that kind of irks me is how 13A plugs are
>> supplied with a 13A fuse so people wiring plugs assume it is correct and 
> 
> They're not. Last time I looked, MK (large, and good, manufacturer of 
> plugs, socket outlets, light switches, etc), listed their 13A BS1363 plug 
> with either a 3A or a 13A fuse pre-fitted. The fact that very few 
> companies stock the former is a problem, though.

Ahh that's probably why I've only ever seen them supplied with 13A fuses :)

>> fit something that should have a 3A with a 13A.
> 
> I can't be the only person to have a jam jar full of new 13A fuses that 
> I'vve removed from new plugs that I am fitting...

Indeed I believe our workshop who service the electrical equipment at 
work have a fairly large drawer full of them :)

>> If I had a quid for every time I have seen something that really only 
>> needed a 1A fuse fitted with a 13A, I'd be very weathy by now :)
> 
> I don;t beleive you should ever fit a 1A fuse in a BS1363 mains plug. I 
> have never need a 1A fuse that complies with BS1362 (the lowest rated 
> such fuse I've seen is 2A), the 1A fuse may not be able to stand the 
> fault current without exploding, say. 

Humm Farnell stock 1A fuses to BS1362 :

http://uk.farnell.com/bussmann/c180-1/fuse-quick-blow-1a-bs1362/dp/1123029

So I would assume that it is ok to use them.

>> Mind I believe that was the reason behind mandating that all new 
>> electrical equipment be supplied with the plug pre-fitted, preferably 
>> molded on and with the correct fuse.
> 
> I regard those moulded-on plugs as being dangerous!. They do not have 
> proper strain-releive for the cable (many times the outer sheath has 
> pulled out of the mounted plug body, you xan't check the wires are 
> properly connected (not just haning on a couple of strands), darn it, 
> I've had them with live/neutral reversed. 

Ahh but that's what regular PAT testing is for, as the case you cite is 
an imediate fail, at which point the remedial action would be to cut off 
the molded plug and correctly fit a BS1363 one :)

Having live and neutral reversed is a more serious problem however :)

> Most of the time I cut them off and fit an MK or Duraplug (acutally the 
> same company). Then I know it's done properly.

Ah but I suspect you and I know how to correctly wire a plug, I have 
found most people who think they do, in fact don't. Lets put it like 
this whenever I get some new (to me) electrical equipment the first 
thing I do is open the plug and check the wireing, and most times 
re-wire it correctly :).

> Oh, and watch out for another thing. At least one country uses a 
> connecotr that is mechancially compatible with the UK BS1363 13A socket, 
> but on a 15A radial circuit. This is not a problem, the connector will 
> easily handly 15A _but_ the plugs used in that country generally do not 
> contain fuses. Somewhere I have a 'kettle lead' with what appears to be 
> an unfused 13A plug on one end.. Needless to say using that on the normal 
> UK ring main circuit (fused at 30A) could be dangerous.

Indeed I have seen plugs like that too, in this case an IEC lead 
supplied with the PSU for one of those USB->ATA/SATA adapters, in both 
cases I chucked it and used UK spec one with a 3A fuse :)

Cheers.

Phill.


-- 
Phill Harvey-Smith, Programmer, Hardware hacker, and general eccentric !

"You can twist perceptions, but reality won't budge" -- Rush.